Andria Kaneps: Latvia Lawyer Who Founded Watu Africa

Watu Credit is a debt financing company offering tuk tuk and boda boda loans with payment terms of up to 24 months.

Over the weekend, the company has been on the spot after section of Kenyans accused it of stealing motorbikes from riders once they completed paying their loans.

Although WoK cannot independently verify the claims, a section of Kenyans came out to tell how they lost their motorbikes under unclear circumstances.

But how does Watu Africa loans work and who is the founder? Here is what WoK has gathered about the same.

Watu Africa founder

According to Business Daily, Watu Africa was founded by Andria Kaneps, a Latvian national, in 2015.

Following it’s establishment, the company raised Ksh 154.5 million which was used as disbursement to borrowers.

“We’re successful because of the efficiency and speed people are getting loans from us

“If someone is ready and they have the deposit, and they meet requirements, they can get the bike in a couple of hours,” Kaneps said.

According to his LinkedIn, he has more than 8 years trading experience in financial markets and is an avid investor in early fintech startups.

Prior to founding Watu, Kaneps was the founding partner of MTG Group, a Cayman based fund andasset management company.

He holds a Master’s Degree in Law from the University of Latvia, and he has worked with Liepa, Skopina/Borenius in Latvia as a lawyer.

Watu Africa

As an asset financing company, Watu Africa provides boda boda and tuk tuk loans with a down payment of Ksh 20,000.

The company offers flexible payment terms of up to 24 months, with the loan coming with comprehensive insurance and GPS tracking services.

They have a variety of boda boda models including Bajaj, Haojin, Honda, Jincheng, Lifan, Piaggio, Skygo, Sonlink and TVS.

For tuk tuks, customers are required to pay a minimum down payment of Ksh 50,000.

To qualify for a loan, a customer will need to have their original ID, KRA PIN certificate, a guarantor, two referees and a Safaricom phone number.

Scandal

For the better part of the weekend, Watu Africa was on the receiving end over an alleged theft of one of their customer’s boda boda.

In an update on Twitter, a man identified as Assad disclosed how he lost his motorbike after settling a Ksh 244,000 loan.

He said his bike was stolen immediately after clearing the loan; he had not even commenced the process of having his details on the motorbike’s logbook.

“Watu Credit are yet to call me regarding my case. They had promised to do so by 11 AM today. I have decided to go to their offices at Upperhill to seek answers

“Anyone who is around and wants to help me we can meet at their offices at 12 noon,” Assad said on Monday.